'Occupy' everything

New Occupy group set to hold two protests against corporate personhood and political influence

A new Occupy group that includes some old members of the movement has planned two protests inspired by Move to Amend, a coalition of groups opposed to US Supreme Court rulings allowing unlimited contributions to politicians and granting personhood to corporations.

The group Occupy Democracy-Pasadena is not part of Occupy Pasadena, Occupy the Rose Parade or Occupy LA, but a few main organizers from those groups are participating, including Occupy Pasadena’s Patrick Briggs, Maddie Gavel-Briggs and Karen Berger. Also included is Pete Thottam, who organized Occupy the Rose Parade.

Friday’s protest is called Occupy the Courts, which is part of a national effort by Move to Amend, which includes the American Friends Service Committee, the Alliance for Survival, the Center for Media and Democracy and the National Lawyers Guild among its 15 members.

Demonstrators will gather in front of the Pasadena Central Library, across the street from the Pasadena Superior Courthouse, from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday. They are mainly against the Supreme Court ruling two years ago in Citizens United v. the Federal Elections Commission, which allowed corporations to give unrestricted amounts of money to political campaigns.

“We the people of the United States of America reject the US Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights,” said Berger.

“Corporations now have almost complete control over the financing mechanism of campaigns,” Thottam said. “All these companies are empowered by Citizens United, and it really is one dollar, one vote. So you’ve got a complete plutocracy now, where the electoral process is controlled by corporate interests. Occupy the Courts is saying ‘Corporate money out of politics.’”

Saturday’s protest is called Occupy the Corporations. From noon to 3 p.m. protesters will gather in front of the AT&T building, 83 E. Colorado Blvd.